Of the books I was reading when I made last year’s list, the three that aren’t on this list were ebooks I was reading when something corrupted (or something like that), and I needed to restore my iPod Touch and none of them were ones I was enjoying enough to bother with trying to find my place again.

That’s it. Just one book! I know, I’m as surprised as you are, I assure you! But it’s what I’ve been doing lately, and it’s resulting in this weird thing where I finish books without having to renew them from the library the maximum number of times! Freaky, huh? (Okay, so sometimes I read one or more of the shorter books in a single day in the middle of reading something longer, but still . . .)

So, interesting things that I notice reading over that list: First, wow, that’s a lot of YA, some possibly actually Middle Grades; I have a theory on why that might be, but that’s it’s own blogpost. Second, there are only two sci-fi books on there, so much for that “keeping up with what’s going on in your genre” thing some authors say is so important. Third, I think it’s pretty obvious that I’ve discovered an author or two I love recently. (T. Kingfisher and Ursula Vernon are the same person; Kingfisher is her pen name for non-children’s books.)

And how did I discover these books? Let’s break it down by method instead of by book, because I like seeing the statistics for this sort of thing:

Kept seeing it at the library and thought it sounded intriguing: 2

Read it before: 9

Author’s website: 1

Wanted a book on local history because I wanted to know more about local history: 1

Had been recommended on a blog I trusted: 1

Got it for free for supporting the author on Patreon (because I like their short stories) so figured I might as well read it: 1

Was reading samples of stuff in that subgenre until I found something I liked enough to read all the way through: 1

Wanted more by an author: 3

Saw a conversation about it that made it look intriguing: 1

Wanted to finish a series I was enjoying: 3

Recommended to me because I mentioned liking another similar book: 1

Is early Forgotten Realms, so it’s not like I need another reason: 1

Breaking down the largest category, “Read it before”:

Parents left it lying around so I read it: 1

Found wandering around bookstore aimlessly after finding nothing in the Young Adult section I wanted when I was about 12: 1

Sequel to something I’d liked: 5

I don’t remember how I first encountered this book: 2

Looking over those lists, I think I finally understand why marketing is so hard for me to do. I have no bloody idea how to sell a book! Unless I already know the series or the author, I seem to discover every single book in a different way!